Daily Thread: Illegal Alien Freedom Ride Counter Protest

Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) ^ | Sept. 27, 2003 | staff

[ETERNAL WARMING]

Title: Illegal Alien Freedom Ride Counter Protest Source: Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)

URL Source: http://www.fairus.org/html/activism.html Published: Sep 25, 2003 Author: staff

Beginning Sept. 28th thru Oct. 4th, many of us will be joining groups from across the country to counter the Illegal Immigrants Freedom Ride to DC. We will be using toll free phone numbers (that we pay for) to blitz the Senate, House and the Whitehouse on behalf of the hardworking citizens of the United States....the taxpayers.

Phone Nos.:

Senate and House: 1-800-648-3516

(When answered, just ask to be connected to a specific Senator or Rep)

Republican Nat'l Committee: 1-202-863-8500 (not toll free)

Whitehouse: 202-456-1414 (voice)

WH fax: 202-456-2461

Comment Line: 202-456-6213

Please join us. NUMBERS MATTER! It's our only hope to keep our politicians in line on this issue. We did it once early in the Bush Administration when he first pushed amnesty for illegals. It was a success! But we need you now to counter the Illegal's demand for "rights."

Please give us some time, if only to call your own Senators and Representatives to protest this invasion. And please consider calling as many of them as you can! In coming days I'll be posting links to the current incumbents, as well as a list of key sponsors of Pro-Illegal bills before the House and Senate.

Click on the above URL for a cram course on the Illegal Invasion.

The following are frequently asked questions to be used as talking points. Please print a copy to use in the event you actually get a "human being" to talk to! :0)

Frequently Asked Questions About Immigration Policy and Its Effects

How many immigrants come to the U.S.?

In 2001, more than one million immigrants were admitted to the United States. Additionally, about 500,000 entered illegally. This is nearly four times as many immigrants as we were receiving only 30 years ago.

Where are immigrants to the U.S. coming from?

About 20 percent come from Mexico. India, China, and the Philippines each send between five to seven percent. The following countries each send between two and three percent of our immigrants: Vietnam, El Salvador, Cuba, Haiti, Bosnia, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Ukraine, Korea, Russia, and Nicaragua. Together, these top 15 sending countries account for about 60 percent of all immigration to the U.S. The remaining 40 percent is composed of very small shares from a large number of other countries.

Who is able to immigrate?

Most immigration (almost two-thirds) is sponsored by family members in this country who most often immigrated themselves and are now legal permanent residents or have become U.S. citizens. Smaller shares of admissions (about one-sixth) go to workers (and their families) whom employers say they need to complement the native workforce, and to refugees and asylees (about one-tenth). In addition, about one out of every 25 admissions visas is given away by lottery.

Who is responsible for U.S. immigration policy?

As a sovereign state, the United States has the right and responsibility to regulate the permanent and temporary admissions of non-citizens. This authority is vested in the Congress, which makes the laws that determine the basis on which visas are authorized (although refugee admissions are proposed annually by the President for concurrance by the Congress). The regulations that promulgate those laws are developed and administered by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) a division of the Department of Justice (DOJ). Within the INS, there are the Border Patrol, which monitors the borders against illegal entry; the INS Inspectors, who monitor people entering the U.S. at ports of entry such as airports; INS Investigators, who track down violators of immigration law; and immigration judges (appointed by the Attorney General), who hear cases on violations of immigration law and regulation. Independent from the INS but still within in the DOJ, there is a Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) administered by the Executive Office for Immigration Review; the BIA hears appeals of decisions by the immigration judges.

Is immigration different now than it used to be?

Immigration is much higher now than it has historically been. Through most of our country's history (more than 180 years), we took in fewer than 500,000 immigrants a year; for more than 135 of those years, it was fewer than 300,000 immigrants. In 2001, our country admitted 1,064,318 legal immigrants, as well as an estimated additional 500,000 illegal immigrants. Only seven years in our entire history have had as many immigrants as we received in 2001.

Why should we reduce immigration?

Because so many of today's immigrants are low-skilled, mass immigration brings competition for entry-level jobs, harming American low-skilled workers. Because most of today's immigrants are poor, they are a drain on our fiscal resources and our economy. Because immigrants are being admitted faster they assimilate, mass immigration is causing social strain and strife among different groups. And because immigration is the source of most population growth in the U.S., it strains the environment and our natural resources.

How many immigrants should we have?

FAIR believes we should strive for a system in which continuing immigration does not add to our population size. That would mean admitting between 200,000 and 300,000 immigrants a year. This would allow us to maximize the positive effects of immigration without overwhelming our environment, schools, social services, and other institutions. It would also contribute to U.S. population stability over the long-term.

Answers to Tough Questions

Arguments you will hear…and the replies to have ready!

“Immigration is a big part of American tradition and national character. We are a nation of immigrants. ”

The fact is, immigration levels today are far higher than traditional levels; in the mid 1950s, our immigration was less than one-third what it is today. Also, the U.S. today is a very different country than in years past. We’re now a fully populated nation of almost 290 million people, not the sparsely settled territory of 150 years ago. Today we’re concerned about limiting sprawl, overcrowding, and environmental stress. Yet, if today’s rate of immigration is continued, it will add nearly 150 million people to our population over the next 80 years. How will that help achieve a single U.S. objective? Will it decrease traffic and other forms of congestion, improve water tables, decrease school overcrowding, cut oil consumption, reduce housing costs? Not one single domestic objective of our nation is being facilitated by today’s mass migration.

“Immigration has been good for us in the past and has made our nation great.”

Immigration in the past did bring benefits--in the past, the U.S. needed large numbers of people to settle the frontiers, cut forests, build railroads, mine gold, and much more. Today’s priorities are preserving our remaining wilderness areas, conserving our natural resources, and ensuring a better quality of life for future generations.

Furthermore, immigration in the past has been quite limited. History shows us that immigration at high levels is not beneficial, which is why the country cut back immigration after the brief Ellis Island period. In the past, we have successfully absorbed and assimilated immigrants because we have periodically halted immigration.

“Throughout our history, people have always attacked immigration and they have always been wrong.”

While people have opposed immigration for a variety of motives over the years, Americans have always had legitimate concerns about immigration and its effects on our population, economy, and society. While we have coped successfully with some of these concerns in the past, that is largely because mass immigration to this country was stopped, not because the concerns were unfounded.

“Immigration is less of a problem today because immigrants comprise a smaller share of our overall population than ever before.”

Quite the opposite is true. When there were fewer people in this country, there was more room and opportunity for immigrants. Now, in a country already stuffed with well over a quarter of a billion people, adding another million through immigration every year is much more of a problem. The more people we have in our country, the fewer immigrants can be added without unwanted consequences.

“Opposition to high immigration is rooted in racism.”

There are always people who support the right idea for the wrong reasons--but that doesn’t make the idea itself wrong. None of this changes the fact that bringing a million additional people from other countries into this one is disruptive to our economy, our society, and our environment. We condemn racism. But we also condemn the use of terms such as “anti-immigrant,” “racist,” or “xenophobe” as they are used to try to stifle open, honest discussion of how our immigration policy is impacting the country.

“Immigrants are a driving force behind our economy, performing jobs that Americans won’t do.”

There are no jobs Americans won’t do, only conditions and wages that are unacceptable. The employers who have become economically dependent on immigrants for cheap labor use this argument to justify virtual indentured servitude and then try to shame Americans into accepting it. Job competition by waves of new immigrants depresses the wages and salaries of American workers and hits hardest at minority workers and those without high school degrees.

“Immigrants don’t take jobs from Americans, they create more jobs.”

Actually, both are true. But many of those jobs created are jobs in providing services to immigrants. Other jobs that immigrants create are generally low-skilled and mostly go to other other immigrants anyway. This doesn’t really benefit Americans at all; it simply creates distortions in the economy, generally away from the high-skills, high-education, high-wage economy most Americans support. And it doesn’t in any way address the increased burdens on our schools, environment, social services, and natural resources that bringing in so many additional people causes.

“We live in a global economy and must have foreign workers to compete in the world market.”

Very little immigration is of skilled personnel. Besides, it is precisely because of advances in global communications that we do not have to allow people to move to the U.S. to take advantage of their talents and benefit from their contributions.

“Immigrants are a net benefit, because they pay taxes and contribute more to our society than they cost.”

The seminal study of the costs of immigration by the National Academy of Sciences found that the taxes paid by immigrants do not cover the cost of services received by them. A calculation to the contrary works only if you discount the programs used by the immigrants’ children, refugees and asylees, immigrants who aren’t of working age, illegal immigrants working “off the books,” and immigrants from certain countries.

This argument also ignores the impact of sacrificing farmland and forests to roads and housing developments, increasing congestion to the point that people spend more time in traffic than at home with their families, and raising the burden on our already strained water supply and other natural resources.

“A country as big as America has room for lots more people.”

A country isn’t a big box that you stuff as many people in as possible. It’s a society supported by an environment, and the question isn’t how many people can physically fit in it, but how many people the society wants and the environment can support. Many of the “wide open spaces ” in the U.S. are inhospitable deserts or mountains, or are already used as farmland to raise food to support the population living on the coasts and to export to feed people in other countries.

“Immigrants catch up quickly economically and soon blend into American society.”

There is increasing evidence of groups of immigrants who are trapped in depressed inner cities, and their children similarly find themselves unable to escape poverty. Today more than 21 million people in our country say that they speak English less than very well. Besides, the hub of the problem is not the rate at which immigrants are assimilating, it’s the rate at which we are admitting them. As long as we have mass immigration, the bulk of unassimilated people in our culture will grow, causing social tension and conflict.

“Illegal immigration is the only real problem, not legal immigration.”

The distinction between legal and illegal immigrants is increasingly blurred by programs such as the amnesty in 1986 that gave legal status to nearly three million illegal residents and provisions that allow illegal immigrants to become legal residents if they marry someone legally here, i.e., Section 245(i). There is little difference between the societal effects from illegal immigrants and from those who were amnestied (and the same is true to a large extent for family members sponsored by former illegal aliens).

“We have a humanitarian obligation to take in struggling people from other countries.”

We can’t solve the world’s problems by importing a tiny fraction of the millions who would like to come here. Instead, we should solve problems where people live and help them turn their countries into places that people aren’t driven to leave. But although the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees says that foreign aid and assistance is best utilized when the resources are spent on alleviating problems at their source, the U.S. channels a large share of its refugee resources on the transportation, language training, cultural adaptation, and assistance grants to refugees resettled in the United States that could benefit many more refugees if expended on temporary shelter and sustenance at refugee facilities near the refugees’ homeland and in the refugees’ eventual return to their homes.

It should be noted, however, that the United States admits as refugees many persons who are not true refugees under the United Nations’ standard, e.g. people from Cuba who do not qualify for asylum in this country.

[JustPiper]

Oceanside Officer Tony Zeppetella was a rookie cop, who had been in the department just over a year, when he was shot three times and killed in a credit union parking lot by Adrian George Camacho, a Mexican illegal alien with a long criminal record. Officer Zeppetella was married with a six-month-old child. He was born in Whittier and enlisted in the navy after he graduated from high school in 1994. Tony Zeppetella was 27 years old when he was killed. The accused killer had been deported several times, and his criminal record lists drugs, illegal firearms possession and gang activity. Camacho fled the scene of the shooting to the home of his ex-wife's parents, and was taken into custody only after a four-hour standoff.

Dana, this one broke my heart:

Sister Helen Chaska was murdered in late summer 2002 by being strangled with her rosary beads — the beads were found imbedded in her neck. She was also raped, as was another nun who accompanied Sister Helen during walking prayers. Both women were in Klamath Falls, Oregon, doing missionary work when the crimes occurred. Her accused murderer is Maximiliano Esparza, who is in the United States illegally, and was convicted in 1988 of robbery and kidnapping in Los Angeles. He was sentenced to six years in prison, was released in 1992 and was on probation until 1995. By law, this man should have been deported to Mexico after his release in 1992. Instead, the INS allowed him to remain in the United States and commit even more heinous crimes. In this article, Michelle Malkin notes the Esparza crime and other examples of INS standard procedure of "catch and release" in violation of law. Sentencing Update: On April 8, 2003, Esparza was sentenced to life in prison without parole. The sentence was a deal worked out with the prosecution to avoid a trial with the possibility of the death penalty. Klamath County District Attorney Ed Caleb said that he wanted to avoid forcing the other nun who had been attacked to testify. In addition, Caleb sent a bill to the Mexican consulate for the cost of investigating and prosecuting the case. Not much chance of getting any money, but it is a reasonable gesture.

For more crimes of officer's and citizens, if you can bear it:

The Human Cost- It seems we are all Disposable to Washington!

[JustPiper]

Only on our side of the street Freedom! We were standing in front of the Fed Bldg, 'they' got the plaza!

[WilliamofCarmichael]

There was a post the other day that included an actual letter a Freep member received from the FBI in response to an attempt to report ILLEGAL aliens. I believe that is where a web site was given for DHS/BICE which can be used to report ILLEGAL aliens. I cannot find where I saved the info and went googling. I ran across this (below). If someone has a link to the thread with the FBI letter please post it. Thanks.

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Date Stamp: 09/06/2002 February 10, 2003. FEDERAL COURT WASHINGTON, D.C.:District of Columbia JUDGE: Richard J. Leon

MR. JOSEPH A.F. SADOWSKI PLAINTIFF

against

GEORGE W. BUSH: President, United States.

And,

TOMMY G. THOMPSON: Secretary, . U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

And,

JOHN D. ASHCROFT, ESQ. Attorney General of the United States U.S. Department of Justice

Mr. Sadowski heads an organization called Sachem Quality of Life (SQL). They actually sued to get immigration laws enforced. Gee, I hope they weren't arrested for a hate crime.

[hedgetrimmer]

What happens when the new people don't assimilate? What happens to our Constitution and our freedoms and rights?

[truthkeeper]

You poor darling. You were very brave and patriotic, and we all appreciate your efforts. Thank you, and courage! YOU DONE GOOD!

[4.1O dana super trac pak]

Letter From the FBI:http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/988852/posts

[4.1O dana super trac pak]

Thats just a drop in the bucket, believe me.

Great job today, by the way.

[ETERNAL WARMING]

What are the odds I will get a reply, positive or not?

I regularly email, fax and phone them on this issue. Occasionally they respond tho not often. Basically I get schmooze for feedback. They all support it...business puts alot of cash into their campaigns to keep it that way.

I let them know I'm watching...it may not be much, but if we all did that.....

[GailA]

LOL...BTT

[ETERNAL WARMING]

That they JUST DON'T CARE

Yes they do...come election time. When Bush first came into office, we blitzed him when he was meeting with Fox and talking amnesty. He backed off in a hurry. The trick is NUMBERS! We all have to be willing to give ten minutes of our time to the issue.

[ETERNAL WARMING]

I'll tellya Freeper's it broke my heart to listen to all their demands and see their solidarity, Our fight is cut out for us!

Hoooyah. Big money behind this illegal movement. Let's face it, they buy off our politicians every election. We can't give up and we must never let them forget.

Sorry for your circumstances. Must have been knarly!

That sounds like the type of illegal we get here in Vegas. Not that proverbial, "decent family man just trying to feed his family," but wisea$$ twenty something Chicano's with attitudes and an insult for every white woman. They travel in groups here...you have to be very careful where you are after dark.

[4.1O dana super trac pak]

There seems to have been a shift on this forum regarding illegals, lots of new faces, lotta anger, somethings going on.

[4Freedom]

Well, I can't say I wasn't expecting that answer. You are only tax paying citizens, you know? ;^)

[4.1O dana super trac pak]

Please note how the "activist" and "hardworkers" treated JustPiper and her young daughter.

I can't wait to see the rotten AP story tomorrow.

[ETERNAL WARMING]

Brought this over from LP:

Title: IMMIGRANTS on tour to fight for EQUAL RIGHTS: FREEDOM BUS RIDES, organized by unions with an eye on potential members, will travel to Washington, D.C. and New York City for rallies.
Source: The Miami Herald (Miami, Florida)
URL Source: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/6871627.htm? template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Published: Sep 27, 2003
Author: Richard Brand
Post Date: 2003-09-27 22:52:48 by blackhorse

---

Posted on Sat, Sep. 27, 2003


MIAMI Immigrants on tour to fight for equal rights 'Freedom bus' rides, organized by unions with an eye on potential members, will travel to Washington, D.C., and New York City for rallies. BY RICHARD BRAND rbrand@herald.com

The ''freedom bus rides'' departing this morning from downtown Miami and other cities across America are being billed as protests for undocumented immigrant workers' rights.

But they are as much about the labor unions that have organized the campaign, reaching out to a constituency once regarded as a threat.

Following the method of the 1960s freedom bus riders who crisscrossed America seeking civil rights for blacks, the riders from Florida will travel across the South for eight days on their way to Washington, D.C., and New York City for rallies. They are criticizing President Bush's immigration policies, demanding the right to reunite families split by immigration laws, protection of workers' rights regardless of legal status and creation of a more streamlined process to legalize immigrants.

''When you come in here, they don't treat you well,'' said Marie Sylvain, 47, who came from Haiti by boat 22 years ago, leaving her children behind. She is riding on the bus to demand reunification of immigrant families.

The rides, which have been organized by a coalition of labor unions and immigrant rights groups, underscore a recent shift in policy by unions in favor of immigrants.

For decades, most unions sought tighter immigration restrictions out of fear that a flood of low-income workers would reduce wages of members. Those same unions are now embracing an estimated nine million undocumented immigrants across the country as a new pool for recruitment.

The shift comes at a time when union rolls and political clout are declining, largely because of reductions in the number of blue-collar manufacturing jobs that once formed a union power base.

''They're struggling to organize, and this plays into expanding their union membership,'' said Harry Katz, a professor at the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations. ``In that sense, it's self-serving.''

The major policy reversal became official in February 2000 when the AFL-CIO, which serves an an umbrella organization for many unions, reversed its historic anti-immigration stance.

The bus rides show that new pro-immigrant policy being put into action. Some union leaders say they hope it translates into more clout at the ballot box.

''If more undocumented workers became voters, we'd see a dramatic shift in public policy,'' said Monica Russo, president of the Service Employees International Union's Florida chapter, one of the Miami bus organizers.

One of the riders will be Rose Assinthe, a healthcare worker at a nursing home who is a member of the Service Employees International Union.

She has taken two weeks of unpaid vacation to make the trip.

''In the United States, we have to fight for everything,'' said Assinthe, a Haitian immigrant. ``I am going to Washington to tell our story, and let people know what we go through.''

While the freedom ride organizers say that the buses will carry undocumented workers, fewer than 10 of the 60 riders on the Miami bus are undocumented.

The majority are union leaders, union members and documented immigrants.

Organizers would not identify the undocumented workers before the ride out of concern that publication of their names could result in legal troubles.

Two weeks ago, riders on the Miami bus were instructed not to reveal their immigration status -- undocumented or otherwise -- to news reporters or even to fellow riders.

All riders were also required to sign a waiver saying they understood the ``risks related to immigration matters.''

The waiver, a copy of which was obtained by The Herald, released organizers from liability if participants are deported.

Organizers say they are worried about protests against the bus, saying hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan have promised a ''rolling blockade'' to slow passage through Florida.

But the most formidable opposition may come in Washington, where some policymakers and pundits have criticized the bus rides as a ploy to reward illegal behavior.

''Any event that advertises the participation of illegal aliens ought to be raided, and the illegal aliens deported,'' said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates tighter restrictions on immigrants.

Buses are also departing this week from Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Houston, Chicago, Minneapolis and Boston.

The Miami bus on the ''Road to Citizenship'' will make stops in five states along the way to Washington to highlight issues specific to immigrants in the region.

[4Freedom]

All very good questions, HT.

Unfortunately, none of the answers to your questions are important to this administration.

All they want to know is how soon can they be ready to vote, how many times can they vote and who for?

[Be active]

"The trick is NUMBERS! We all have to be willing to give ten minutes of our time to the issue"

You are so right!

[Missouri]

Sounds like a circus up there in Chicago. Hard to believe its part of the mid-west.

A fellow machinist and I had a long talk friday with the president of our local (Lodge 837 International Association of Machinist and Aerospace Workers) expressing our outrage that the AFL-CIO has put our money into this "ride". He agreed with us that this was not right. He even said that a guy from the International was pestering him and other Locals here in Missouri to each kick in $500.00 to this event to house these radicals. Our president said "no thanks" to this bozo. We thanked him and at the very least our Local President will remember this when someone from the International comes around looking for sponsors. So I guess thats the only good news I can give you.

Turns out we are smack in the middle of a damn white supremacist group!!!

Its pretty sad when the nazis are the only ones showing up in numbers to defend this country.

Good job anyway. We can only hope Tancredo bottles amnesty up in the House of Representitves.

[4.1O dana super trac pak]

Bleeding heart "Freedom Ride" article # 1,462.

UGH.

[4Freedom]

Picking your own tomatos??? The next thing you'll be confessing to is mowing your own lawn. ;^)